Identity
by xXTheCrypticCrayonXx
Summary: When Merlin lies about his identity in order to protect Prince Arthur, he has no choice but to reveal his biggest secret to his friends. This isn't the only problem the young warlock faces, however. After all, revenge can be an evil motivator. Reveal fic, purely bromance between Merlin and Arthur, twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

It was early morning, and the sun was barely up. Merlin sighed as he followed Arthur and his knights, yet again, through the woods surrounding Camelot in pursuit of some poor, innocent animal.

"Come on, _Mer_lin. It's not _that_ difficult to keep up with the group." Arthur's voice came floating back to him.

"Well, forgive me, sire, if I don't see the point of me even coming along on these hunting trips, seeing as all _you_ do is complain about how I do everything," Merlin replied with a small huff. Gwaine gave a small laugh and turned to Merlin, giving him a thumbs up.

Not only did the group have to traipse through the woods to hunt animals, but they also had to go on foot, as they had left the horses tied up at their campsite. Arthur had said he didn't want to make a lot of noise and scare their prey off…Merlin was currently cursing Arthur's choice, as he was the one who had to carry most of their baggage.

Of course, something always goes wrong on hunting trips…always. This time, they were attacked by raiders who had, of course, seen their bright red Camelot attire. Merlin sighed and, not for the first time, wondered just exactly who thought up such a conspicuous color for Camelot.

Being knights and the Crown Prince of Camelot, the men held their own for a while against the raiders. However, they continued to flow out from between the trees from some unknown source, and eventually, Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan, Arthur, and Merlin were surrounded with swords and arrows pointing right at them. With great reluctance, the men dropped their swords and surrendered—except for Merlin, who had no weapon—knowing there was no use to try fighting their way out of this one. One by one, the knights, the Prince, and Merlin were tied up, blindfolded, and rushed off to the rebels' hideout in a nearby village.

When their prisoners were locked up in the holding cells of their large hideout, the raiders quickly went to find their leader and tell him the great news. Knights of Camelot came from wealthy, noble families who, more often than not, were willing to pay large ransoms for their lost family members. Not only that, but they had heard one of the group called 'sire,' which meant that one of the men locked in their holding cell was royalty.

As the raiders walked away, the knights huddled together to come up with a plan of escape, although they knew they had pretty low chances. Before they could get far with their planning, a man who seemed to be the leader came to the cell and stepped inside.

"So, which of you is royalty? And don't bother lying. We know one of you is a prince—of Camelot, judging by the colors you wear," he sneered.

"And who are you?" asked Arthur.

"I am Ceyarn, and I'm in charge of band of raiders and this town. Now, which of you is the Prince?"

The group glanced around at each other quickly before Arthur turned to confess. "I am," interrupted Merlin, causing the knights to start.

"You?" shouted Ceyarn. "But you are dressed as a peasant!"

"Yes, well, it's the perfect disguise, isn't it?" Merlin replied cheekily before Ceyarn backhanded him across the face.

"Don't you dare speak to me in that way!" Ceyarn shouted as Merlin gently wiped blood from his split lip.

"No, you have it wrong! He's not really the Prince," Gwaine defended as the other knights and Arthur agreed, all looking confounded.

"Yes, I am," Merlin argued. "Seriously, that's enough, men. He already knows the truth, so there's no point trying to deny it anymore," Merlin gave his best attempt at sounding authoritative and covertly glared at his friends.

"_You_ will come with me," Said Ceyarn, wrapping a hand tightly around Merlin's arm, surely leaving a bruise.

As Merlin was being dragged away Arthur started to open his mouth to protest and tell the truth, but suddenly he could not speak—nothing would come out of his mouth! Merlin's face was turned the other way, so no one saw his eyes flash gold shortly before the real Prince's predicament. He knew the only way to keep Arthur safe was to keep him silent. He could not allow himself to reveal his secret, though, not even to save himself. If Arthur found out and hated him for it, Merlin would not be able to cope with the emotional pain that would cause him, so he kept silent, knowing the others would be safe until he could think of an escape plan.

Merlin was thrown roughly into a room down the hallway from the cell his friends were currently being held in.

"No need to be so rough. I can walk, you know," Merlin smarted off, causing Ceyarn to punch him in the face. Merlin lightly touched his cheek, knowing it would bruise badly in a few minutes.

"You, Princeling," Ceyarn spat, "are really beginning to get on my nerves."

"My apologies." Merlin couldn't resist. Ceyarn punched Merlin in the stomach, making him double over.

"You had better learn to control that smart mouth of yours, your _highness_," Ceyarn sneered down at Merlin mockingly, "before it gets you into even more trouble."

"What do you want from me?" Merlin asked as politely as he could manage.

"Want from you?" repeated Ceyarn venomously. "We don't want anything except revenge for your kingdom's slaughter of my innocent people!"

"What people?" asked a seriously confused Merlin.

Ceyarn looked sharply at Merlin before jumping at him, wrapping his hands around Merlin's throat, and squeezing. "The so-called evil sorcerers your father had executed in accordance with the laws of Camelot! My people never harmed anyone! They were rounded up like common murderers and executed one by one! Just because they practiced magic does not mean they were evil! They only helped people!" the man screamed at Merlin before finally releasing the fake Prince's neck and shoving him to the floor; Merlin took this opportunity to refill his lungs with much needed air. A split second later, he was roughly gripped around the waist and slung into the nearest wall, hitting his head and causing black spots to float into his field of vision.

"It just shows how heartless you are that you cannot even remember the entire village of innocents you and your father sent to their deaths!" screamed Ceyarn, continuing to abuse Merlin by slamming him into walls and kicking him when he fell. "You cannot even imagine the kind of pain your father has brought upon us! This pain is nothing compared to what we felt!"

Merlin knew he had to help the others escape, as there was no way that Ceyarn would simply let them go if he held this much hatred for those of Camelot. Just as Ceyarn called for the guards to chain Merlin up, Merlin took his chance. Using his magic, Merlin quickly slammed Ceyarn into the wall behind the man, knocking him out; then he turned toward the guards and knocked their heads together, making sure they were both incapacitated. Merlin searched Ceyarn for the keys to the cell his friends were in before carefully opening the room to the door, glad there were none of Ceyarn's raiders in the passageway. He hurried down the stone hallway and peaked around the corner at the end: two raiders. He made quick work of them before running toward the cell that held the knights and Arthur. They all started at the injuries to Merlin's face and neck.

"Merlin! Are you alright? How did you get away?" asked Arthur.

Lancelot just gave Merlin a knowing look and distracted Arthur, "Yes, well, I think that's a story for another time." He turned to Merlin. "Do you have the keys?"

He just pulled them out when six guards came running around the corner, shouting and brandishing weapons at Merlin. The warlock, knowing there was no other way out of the situation, glanced back and Arthur and the other knights and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what—," Arthur started to ask, but Merlin turned back toward the guards and used his magic to fight them off, only knocking the men out, not killing them.

More guards simply came running around the corner, and Merlin could not keep up with them. One guard found his way toward Merlin, and Lancelot shouted to warn the warlock—the others still too much in shock to be much help—but it was too late. The raider, knowing his leader would want the now-known sorcerer alive, quickly slammed the pommel of his sword into Merlin's stomach, winding him and effectively stopping Merlin's magic long enough to bind his wrists. Immediately Merlin sagged against the man, the chains around his wrists doing the job they were meant to: blocking a sorcerer's magic.

Ceyarn came strolling around the corner then, smiling when he saw how weak Merlin had become due to the magic blocking chains around his wrists. "Well, now I know you were lying, boy. No Prince of Camelot would possess magic!"

"What did you do to him?" shouted Gwaine, the other knights seeming just as anxious about Merlin's sudden downfall in health. The young warlock's face was much paler than his normal skin tone, sweat was beading on his brow, and it seemed like a struggle for him to breathe naturally.

"I simply blocked his magic." He looked at Merlin. "You must be pretty powerful if it has made you _this_ weak." Ceyarn lowered his voice and gripped Merlin's face roughly, bringing the warlock closer in order to whisper, "Now, tell me, which one of them is really the Prince? I know it isn't you, so you might as well tell us…No? Well that's too bad! I have ways of making you talk."

Merlin, severely weakened from the chains, glanced up at Ceyarn with a look of defiance in his paler than normal face. In response, the leader simply grabbed onto Merlin's chained arms and dragged him across the floor, back toward the room he was in just minutes before.

"What are you doing?" asked Leon, easily pushing aside his surprise about Merlin having magic to concentrate on his concern for the young man's wellbeing. Ceyarn simply ignored the knight, while Merlin looked back into the cell, seeking out Arthur's expression, but Arthur was facing the other way.

The one and only Prince of Camelot could do nothing but stare into the corner of his shared cell, not believing what he had just witnessed. His thoughts were interrupted by Gwaine's voice, "Well, I, for one, think we should probably resume trying to find a way to get out of here and rescue Merlin." The other knights agreed before turning to Arthur.

"Did any of you know?" asked Arthur, looking them all in the eyes, one by one.

"I knew," spoke Lancelot after a moment. "I found out by accident…But that is not the most pressing issue at this point. I think, as soon as we get out of here, we can discuss this with Merlin. I'm sure he will tell you everything you want to know."

"Why did he never tell me?" asked Arthur, slightly angry.

"Well, why do you think?" asked Gwaine before lowering his voice so that any guards nearby wouldn't hear him. "Your father is the bloody King of Camelot. Would you have been so open about that kind of thing if you were Merlin? I don't think so."

Arthur thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose we had better start on some type of escape plan then."

* * *

Merlin could do nothing as his arms were pulled above his head and the chain connecting the manacles on his wrists was looped over a hook hanging from the ceiling. His feet barely touched the floor now, and his arms were already sore from supporting his entire weight. One of the guards he had knocked out earlier came forward and cut off Merlin's jacket and thin shirt, carelessly nicking the warlock in several spots.

"You have one last chance to tell me what I want to know before we begin," Ceyarn told him harshly. "Which of the knights out in that cell is really the Prince?"

Merlin stayed silent, not willing to give up Arthur's life for his own.

"So be it." Ceyarn circled around Merlin with something held behind his back. Once the man walked behind Merlin, he struck; the whip slammed into Merlin's unprotected back, creating long bleeding welts on the once pale skin. The surprise of the attack caused Merlin to let out a loud gasp of pain before the man struck again. Ceyarn was clearly enjoying causing Merlin pain, as he rapidly continued slicing the skin on Merlin's back with his whip. Merlin's already troubled breathing became even more labored with each strike. Merlin knew he wouldn't last much longer, and as soon as he couldn't withstand any more torture, Ceyarn would just start on one of the knights.

"Okay!" the warlock finally gasped out, sounding much weaker than he had earlier. "Alright…I'll tell you the truth."

Ceyarn stopped his whipping to walk around and face Merlin. "So," he prompted, "which one is the Prince of Camelot?"

"None of them," whispered Merlin.

Ceyarn swiftly backhanded him across the face and began to go back to his position behind the young warlock.

"I swear! I'm telling the truth!" Merlin declared as loudly as he could. "We were sent out as a decoy," he explained quickly, coming up with the story as he went.

Ceyarn returned to his spot in front of Merlin. "Go on."

"The real Prince," Merlin began, taking a deep breath, "is on a secret quest to the Forest of Ascetir. We were sent out in the opposite direction to divert any attention from him."

Ceyarn thought on it for a second. "Well then. It seems as if the Prince will not be joining us any time soon, so we'll just have to make do with who we have here," he said with a smirk in Merlin's direction.

"What? No! You—," Merlin's outburst was cut off by yet another hit to the face, followed by the hard punch to his chest that, after all the damage done by Ceyarn's kicking earlier, finally cracked a rib. The sharp pain caused Merlin to scream out, which the knights and Arthur heard in their cell. Ceyarn decided then to take a break, telling the two guards at the door that he would be back later.

Merlin hung there limply, trying to breathe through the pain in his back and chest without injuring himself further. Already, a bad headache was forming from being separated from his magic for so long, adding to the pain from his beating and his sick feeling from the magic blocking chains. He didn't think he would be able to hold out much longer if Ceyarn decided to come back and finish his torture.

The guards at the door were supposed to be keeping their eyes on the prisoner lest he try to escape. However, it was obvious the warlock wasn't going anywhere; he barely looked like he was able to keep his eyes open at that point. After Ceyarn left, the guards turned toward each other and began talking—maybe that was why it was so easy for them to be overcome.

* * *

Hey guys! There are only going to be two chapters to this fic, but they _are _longer chapters than I normally do. :) If you have time or want to, review, but if you can't or just don't want to, I'm _still_ going to post the next chapter. I'm not going to hold chapters ransom for reviews, so don't worry about it! If you're still reading this, then thank you for reading this. :D I'll post the next chapter within the next couple of days! Ta ta!


	2. Chapter 2

I would just like to thank everyone for all the reviews, story alerts, story favorites, etc. that people submitted for this story so far! I was kind of shocked when I saw how much support the story got! Well, this is last chapter to this story. I really hope you all enjoy it! Thanks again for your support. :D

* * *

Arthur and his knights, having come up with a plan of sorts, decided there was no time like the present to test it out. Elyan volunteered to be the 'victim,' as the other knights got into their positions.

"Hey!" shouted Arthur and Gwaine as Elyan collapsed onto the floor of their cell. "Help!"

A few of Ceyarn's raiders came running toward their cell. "What happened to him?" one asked, pointing to Elyan.

The knights acted worried. "We don't know! He just collapsed!"

One of the guards scoffed, taking a step closer to the cell. Just then, Percival reached through the bars and grabbed the guard around the neck, pulling him back against the bars.

Gwaine quickly turned to the other guard. "Get us out of here, now, or we'll break the neck of your friend here."

The other raider looked unsure for a moment before Percival started to squeeze his friend's neck a bit tighter. "Alright! ...Alright, I'll get you out." The guard took the keys off his belt before walking slowly toward the cell door. "Just stay back, alright?"

The knights and Arthur agreed quickly, Elyan having already gotten back up from the ground. As soon as the man unlocked the cell door, he was knocked unconscious by Leon, and the other man was knocked out by Percival. The group found their weapons in a room nearby before rushing down the hallway, checking the few rooms quietly to find Merlin. When they found the room Merlin was in, they easily took care of the guards who were supposed to be _guarding_ the prisoner.

Merlin, quite simply, looked about the same as he felt: like hell. The warlock's upper torso was completely uncovered. His face and chest were badly bruised and bloody, and they could tell a rib was either broken or fractured judging by the darker bruise on his left side. Around Merlin's neck were large bruises in the shape of hands—Ceyarn's hands. He still had a sickly pallor from the shackles suppressing his magic, and his breathing was extremely labored.

"Shit." This came from Lancelot. "I don't think we should wake him up until after we escape."

"Agreed."

Elyan and Leon volunteered to keep watch at the door as the others approached Merlin. Arthur and Lancelot immediately reached for his arms to get him off of the hook he was hanging from. Gwaine and Percival went around the young Warlock to support him from the back and gasped at what they saw.

"Arthur, don't lay him on his back," Gwaine told him urgently as the Prince unhooked his manservant's shackles from the ceiling hook.

"Well, we can't exactly lay him on his front either—he has a broken rib," replied Arthur testily, angry more at the situation than at Gwaine himself.

"Guys, we really have to go," Leon whispered from his position at the door.

Gwaine glanced around, eyes landing on Merlin's shirt and jacket. "Sorry, buddy," he said quietly before ripping both articles of clothing up a bit more and wrapping the strips around Merlin's back and chest as Arthur and Lancelot supported his weight. "This is the best we can do for now. We need to get out and get back to Camelot as quickly as possible so that Gaius can see to his injuries."

Arthur and Gwaine supported Merlin as gently as possible between the two of them while the other four took positions around them for protection. On the way out of the raiders' hideout, they encountered only small forces of men, easily dispatched, while only gaining a few small injuries. Once the group left the building and entered the village they saw that it was around midday, hours since they had been captured. They decided to draw less attention to themselves by hiding in the woods surrounding the village while Lancelot stole some horses for them. The journey back to Camelot, while possible, could take a day or more without horses, especially considering the state Merlin was in.

"Do you have any idea how to get these shackles off?" Arthur asked the knights. "I've never seen anything like these before."

Elyan was the one who answered—having a blacksmith for a father really came in handy in some situations. "The thing is, if these were regular manacles, I could make short work of them. The fact that these are magically suppressing may change things though."

Lancelot's voice came from behind them, "Yes, well, we may want to worry about that a bit later." They turned to see him pulling along six horses. "I think they'll notice this many horses going missing fairly soon, so we may want to get moving."

"I'll take Merlin with me," volunteered Arthur. The other knights nodded, knowing he would not be persuaded otherwise.

Arthur climbed up onto his horse before gesturing to the others that he could take Merlin. Lancelot and Percival gently raised Merlin up to Arthur's horse and made sure the warlock was sitting securely. Each knight then mounted his own horse and the group was on their way, hoping that Ceyarn and his band of raiders would not notice the missing horses until it was too late and they were back in Camelot.

Almost an hour after they were safely out of the village, Merlin awoke, gasping in pain at each step the horse took. His back, pressed against Arthur's chest, felt as if it were on fire, made worse by the jarring motions made by the horse. He was still feeling severely sick because of the manacles, and his broken rib was sending sharp pains through his chest. Arthur soon noticed that Merlin was awake and motioned for the others to stop in the clearing to their right.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked quietly. "Merlin?"

Merlin gasped, remembering what had happened at the raiders' hideout…what his friends had found out. He shifted forward, away from Arthur.

"Merlin?" Arthur repeated, concerned. Merlin's breathing only quickened.

Lancelot, having dismounted, carefully walked closer to Merlin and Arthur. "Merlin, what's wrong?"

"You—I—you all—you know—you weren't supposed to—," Merlin's rapid breathing and panicked stumbling over his words made his chest cry out in pain.

"Look at me, Merlin," Lancelot soothed. "It's all okay. Everything is fine. We're going to get you down now to look at your wounds, okay?"

Merlin merely nodded, a telltale sign of the pain he was feeling.

Lancelot helped Merlin down from Arthur's horse while the others took off what excess clothing they had to make a padded bedroll for the young warlock, who needed help just standing upright. As Lancelot lowered him gently to the makeshift bedroll, Elyan began studying the shackles around Merlin's wrists. The knight pulled out a small knife he had stolen from one of the guards. When Elyan tried to pick open the lock with the knife, however, Merlin jerked forward, crying out in pain from the shock that had been driven through his body. Elyan dropped the knife, startled.

Merlin gasped out, "Don't…do that…again."

"What happened?" Arthur asked.

"I don't think these manacles are going to be as easy to remove as regular ones," replied Elyan. "Without the key, I don't know if there is even a way to do so."

"I think…we may need…the _dragon_," Merlin supplied hesitantly.

"Merlin, I think you may be delirious," Arthur told him gently.

"No…you don't understand…"

"If you don't mind, I think this should all be explained later," cut in Gwaine. "We should worry about Merlin's wounds first, then all the explaining."

"No, Gwaine, really, this is important," Merlin argued, his voice weak. "To get the chains off, we need the dragon."

"What dragon, Merlin?"

"…The Great Dragon…"

Arthur cut in, "Hold on. The Great Dragon is dead, Merlin. I killed it."

"I lied, Arthur. The Great Dragon's name is Kilgharrah, and you didn't kill him…I sent him away," explained Merlin.

"What do you mean you 'sent him away,'" asked Arthur suspiciously.

"I mean that Balinor was my father, and when he died, I became the last Dragonlord, so I send Kilgharrah away and told him that if he ever attacked Camelot again, I would kill him," Merlin told Arthur, exasperated and scared for what Arthur would say to that.

"Look, this is all beside the point!" interrupted Lancelot. "We need to find the Great Dragon so that he can get these shackles off of Merlin so that we can get him back to Camelot."

"Great! So where do find this dragon?" Gwaine asked Merlin.

"I have to call him," Merlin said with an apologetic look in Arthur's direction.

Arthur looked at Merlin. "Well, go ahead."

Arthur and the knights looked on in shock as Merlin spoke in the dragon tongue that he and Kilgharrah shared.

Not ten minutes later, the group heard the beating sound of large wings before The Great Dragon landed in the clearing, taking care not to squash the knights.

"Well, young warlock, what is it that you want?" asked the Dragon in his booming voice.

"You can talk!" came Arthur's shocked voice.

"Of course I can talk, young Pendragon," Kilgharrah replied, snorting. "Now. Merlin?"

"We cannot remove these shackles," Merlin told him, holding up his wrists, "without your help."

"Very well, young warlock," he assented before turning to the knights. "Move aside."

The knights did as he asked after glancing at Merlin first and seeing the boy's nod. Kilgharrah raised a large talon to the manacles before pressing slightly, breaking them as easily as a twig. The heavy shackles fell from Merlin's wrists with a clanking noise, and the relief he had at having his magic back was clear to them all. A sigh of relief escaped Merlin's mouth as his strength flooded back into him and his sickly pallor darkened slightly to his normal skin tone.

"Thank you, Kilgharrah," Merlin said graciously.

"We are the last of our kind—I could not very well allow you to die," Kilgharrah replied with a smirk, although everyone could tell that he was indeed worried about Merlin. "I believe I will allow you to rest now, young warlock. Your friends will watch out for you. Goodbye, Merlin."

"Goodbye, Kilgharrah."

The knights watched in awe as the Great Dragon flew off. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," Gwaine joked.

"Are you able to heal your wounds with magic, Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"I might be _able_ to, but I don't know how, and healing magic is not something I wish to risk yet," Merlin replied carefully.

"Well, in that case, I think it would be best if we continue on to Camelot," Arthur stated. "At least then we can find Gaius."

Once Merlin was ready, they once again mounted their horses—Merlin getting help up from Lancelot once again—and continued on their way. Seeing as the ride would take a while, Merlin decided to try to explain his magic to Arthur and the knights.

"I just want you to know that…I only kept it from you because I thought it was necessary. I've just kept this secret for so long that I didn't really know how you would all react." Merlin looked down at his hands, fidgeting. "And I didn't want you to have to choose between your father and me, Arthur. I didn't think it was fair to put you into that type of position. For that, I am sorry."

"You really are an idiot." Merlin looked started at this. "It's okay, Merlin. I understand," Arthur told him.

"And none of us really care about you having magic either," Leon told him. "I think we can all agree that you are the same exact person you have always been."

"You can rest assured that your secret is safe with us," Arthur told him seriously.

"Thank you," replied Merlin gratefully, discretely wiping his eyes.

"Merlin, Ceyarn said that you had to be pretty powerful for the shackles to affect you so much—just how powerful _are_ you?" asked Arthur.

Merlin stilled for a second before making a decision, "The Druids—they call me Emrys. I am supposed to be the most powerful magic user to ever live because I was born with magic—I didn't learn it…There is a prophecy that you are to be the Once and Future King and that, together, you and I are supposed to unite the lands of Albion and bring magic back to the land, which will allow the land to prosper."

After this sudden revelation, the group became silent. Merlin began to wonder if he had made a mistake in telling Arthur about his destiny when the Prince interrupted his thoughts, "Well, that isn't stressful at all."

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I shouldn't have told—,"

"No, I'm glad you told me, _Mer_lin. We're just going to have to keep this from my father, obviously. I can't see him being too understanding about this kind of thing." Arthur noticed the way Merlin's shoulders stiffened with the mention of his father. "I already told you not to worry about him finding out, alright?"

Merlin nodded.

Soon enough, Merlin had answered all their other questions about his magic, the sky steadily darkening throughout his explanations, and he decided to spend the rest of their trip home resting, still tired from his ordeal. When Arthur gently woke Merlin, the sky was pitch black, and they were in the courtyard in front of the castle, having completed the journey safely.

Arthur sent Leon, Percival, and Elyan to wake Gaius and tell the man what had happened to Merlin, knowing the man would need to get his chambers set up to take care of the warlock. Meanwhile, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Arthur helped Merlin down from the horse and half carried Merlin up to the chambers Gaius shared with the warlock.

Not many inhabitants of the castle were still awake at this point, so they encountered no trouble or questions. They had no problem with guards or other knights, as they were not on high alert for any reason—Arthur and his knights were originally supposed to be gone until the next day, so the King had not been worried about the return of his son.

When Arthur, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Merlin finally made it to the physician's chambers, Merlin was exhausted. At Gaius' bidding, they carefully sat Merlin down on the physician's own bed, while Gaius bustled about, collecting anything he thought he might need. Percival, Leon, and Elyan helped him in any way they could. Gaius, due to his years of practice, quickly examined the injuries on Merlin's face, neck, chest, and stomach, mainly worried about his broken rib. As he touched the area around the deep bruise, Merlin winced.

"We'll have to wrap this tightly after I see you your other injuries," Gaius told Merlin.

"Great," Merlin's voice showed his lack of enthusiasm for the task ahead.

Gaius gave him a look before moving around the bed to take a look at Merlin's back. "We'll need to clean these wounds to keep the infection out before putting a salve on them and wrapping your back up. Gwaine, could you bring me that bucket of water over there? And, Arthur, you should probably go tell your father what has happened. He'll want to know right away."

Gwaine did as he was asked, but Arthur started to protest. With one look from Gaius, however, he did as he was told.

Gaius began to clean the wounds left on Merlin's back by the Ceyarn's whip, Merlin wincing and gasping quietly as he did. When he was done, he gently rubbed salve into the wounds and left Merlin's back uncovered; he would wait to wrap the wounds until he was ready to wrap Merlin's broken rib.

"Any other wounds I should know about?" Gaius asked Merlin. "I can put a light salve on your other bruises, but other than that, I can't attempt much else, I'm afraid."

"Just the back of my head," Merlin told him. "I don't think it's too bad, but I don't know for sure."

Gaius examined the small bump on Merlin's head and assured the boy that, aside from hurting for a few days, the bump posed no danger to Merlin. Then Gaius began to rub a light salve into Merlin's bruises. Of course, now that Merlin's other injuries were taken care of, Gaius needed to begin wrapping his chest and back, a task that Merlin was not looking forward to.

Gaius gathered up long strips of clean bandages and began to wrap them tightly around Merlin's torso. Merlin kept his pain filled groans as quiet as he could during Gaius' ministrations, and when the physician was finally done, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Those ribs will take almost 6 weeks to heal, so I don't recommend you doing anything strenuous until then. That means that you won't be able to attend to Arthur for that period of time either—he'll have to find someone else. I'll tell him that when he comes to check on you later, Merlin."

Merlin's reply to this was a slight smirk at Arthur's misfortune, followed by a groan when he processed the length of time it would take him to heal.

"Alright! Everyone out," Gaius called toward the knights still in the room. "Merlin needs to rest, so one of you better help him to his room, and then you had better go off to bed yourselves."

Gwaine, of course, was the first one to come to Merlin's aid, helping the boy off Gaius's bed and up the stairs into his own bed. The knights all called goodnight to Merlin, telling him to get better soon before heading off to bed themselves. Gaius just sighed and cleaned up his bed sheets, stained slightly with Merlin's blood, before climbed back into bed.

He thought about Merlin before he fell asleep, muttering fondly, "That boy is going to be the death of me."


End file.
